NEW HAMBURG, Ontario – A stoneware water cooler from the early 1850s, made by Justus Morton in Brantford, Ontario, soared to $30,680 to take top lot honors in Miller & Miller Auctions Ltd.’s Canadiana & Historic Objects Auction on Feb. 9. All prices quoted are in Canadian dollars. The current exchange rate for one Canadian dollar is 76 cents. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.

The water cooler (above) easily surpassed its $15,000-$18,000 estimate and was elaborately decorated with applied figures, including a man wrestling with lions having fish-like heads, a man smoking a pipe, a woman taking snuff and others with Greek, Roman or biblical origins, rare for utilitarian pottery. Morton left Lyons New York in 1849 to found Canada’s first stoneware pottery factory, Morton & Co.

The auction was a treasure trove of Canadian history, one that included signs and advertising, historical photographs and ephemera, clocks, folk art, decoys and primitives, early pottery, fruit jars and stoneware, sports memorabilia, paintings, heirloom furniture and more. Many, but not all, of the items in the sale were specific to Canada, hence the title Canadiana & Historic Objects.

“Overall the sale was extremely well received and brought out a number of serious Ontario collectors and dealers who’d never attended a Miller & Miller auction event before,” said Ben Lennox of Miller & Miller Auctions. “Many bidders made the two-to-four-hour car drive from all over Ontario, places like Collingwood, Kingston, Windsor and Niagara, to name a few.”

Lennox added, “The best of the best, the rare, the unique and the extraordinary items continue to shine. Beyond the water cooler – which was the surprise lot of the sale and really excited the crowd – we once again saw incredible strength with early Ontario license plates, Canadian art, advertising signs, clocks and early toys. It was a great way to kick off 2019.”

Following are additional highlights from the auction, which attracted around 200 people to the gallery and thousands more to bid online. Phone and absentee bids were also accepted (16 phone bidders on 26 unique lots). All prices quoted include the buyer’s premium.

Highlights from the furniture category included a schrank, Pennsylvania Dutch for a two-door clothes cabinet (below). The tulip-inlaid masterpiece was made in Upper Canada (Hanover or Gray County) in the second half of the 19th century and attributed to John Klempp. It sold for $10,030. A Great Waterloo County harvest table holding three drawers with wood pegged turned legs brought $4,025.

Tulip-inlaid masterpiece schrank made in northern Canada (Hanover or Gray County) in the second half of the 19th century and attributed to John Klempp. Price realized: $10,030 Canadian/U.S.$7,593. Miller & Miller Auctions image

Antique Canadian license plates proved to be extremely popular with bidders. Top lots included a pair of 1910 Ontario plates made from rubber with whitewall bar, having no cracks ($8,850); a pair of 1916 Ontario cloth-bound cardboard temporary plates, serial #T1050 ($5,310); and a rare pair of 1911 cobalt porcelain enamel plates made by the McClary Stove Co. ($2,070).

Timepieces also performed well. An English tall case clock with the dial signed “Ryrie Birks, Toronto,” 104 inches tall, purchased at an Ontario estate sale in the 1950s, brought $7,670. A Pequegnat Regulator #1, said to be the finest weight-driven office clock ever made, 35 inches tall with a refinished case, realized $4,025. An American-made 14K gold 1930s Walt Disney presentation watch by Hamilton, engraved “To RK 1937 from (Walt Disney)” made $1,770.

A face mask purportedly used in practice in 1960 by the legendary Montreal Canadians goalie Jacques Plante but never worn in an actual NHL game, rose to $4,720. Also, a miniature canoe, made around 1890 and attributed to John Stephenson (Peterborough, Ontario), known as the “grandfather of the Peterborough canoe” and one of only four known “sample models” by him, hit $6,900.

A rare early Canadian Grand Trunk Railroad lithograph advertising poster signed “Toronto Lithographing Co.” and titled The Globe Special Train, Passing Dundas, housed in a 34¼-inch- by-28¼-inch frame, left the station for $5,400. Also, an oil on canvas painting by Frank Shirley Panabaker (1904-1992), signed lower left and titled Georgian Bay, changed hands for $3,300.

A Canadian-made, 1930s-era Schneider’s porcelain sign boasting an early version of the “Dutch Girl” graphic and with superb color and gloss, 22½ inches by 46½ inches, made $5,015; while a German belsnickle Christmas store display, larger than usual at 18½ inches and meant to hold candy, made of hand-painted papier-mâché composition with felt clothing and a real fur beard and hair, commanded $3,000.

Surprise lots that well outperformed their presale estimates included a fire captain’s walking stick from Yorkville Station 312 (Toronto’s oldest fire hall, built in 1878 and still operational), with a highly ornate gold-filled handle inscribed to “Captain Urwin” and dated 1905 ($1,770); and an amber skater’s lantern, 6½ inches in height, with no chips, cracks or damage ($1,495).